Truce declared in Libya city after 147 dead and 395 wounded

The Libyan Prime Minister, Abdourrahim El-Keib, visited Sunday in Sebha, some 750 km south of Tripoli where clashes between rival militias left 147 dead and nearly 400 wounded during the past week.

The Libyan Prime Minister, Abdourrahim El-Keib, visited Sunday in Sebha, some 750 km south of Tripoli where clashes between rival militias left 147 dead and nearly 400 wounded during the past week. The clashes were the deadliest since the fall of the regime of Muammar Gaddafi last year .

The Libyan Prime Minister said he wanted to show the rival camps in Sebha that there is enough room for all tribes and all ethnic communities there. "We announce that reconciliation efforts have resulted in an agreement for a cease-fire," said El-Keib, adding "the calm prevailing now in Sebha."

"The situation is now calm and the forces under the Ministry of Defense control strategic areas in the city including the airport," said the chief of staff Youssef al-Mangouch during a joint press conference.

Meanwhile, in the port city of Zououara, near the Tunisian border, security forces arrested 25 members of a local militia, which provoked a confrontation with rival groups. One person was killed there.

The people of Zououara are mostly Berbers, who participated in the fight against the Gaddafi regime. But this city is surrounded by Arab communities, some have supported Gaddafi last year.